How many times have you heard a football coach tell his receivers, “You have to come back to the ball!”? In football, there are two opposing forces battling against each other. The offense and the defense. The defense has a scheme and a game plan to disrupt and minimize the effectiveness of the offense. Likewise, the offense has a scheme and a game plan to overcome the disruptions of the defense. Nevertheless, the offense must execute their plays with precision regardless of the ferocity of the defense. The line needs to block and fire out. The backs need to hit their holes hard and the receivers need to keep tight routes to create separation between them and their defenders.

The defenders job is to stay between you and the quarterback until the QB looks for another receiver. As you are forced to look over the top of your defender trying to make eye contact with your QB, the QB is assessing whether there is a clear path to get you the ball. He is calculating your ability to make the catch and the risk of a turn over. The farther you get downfield the riskier it gets and you end up taking yourself out of the play. This is precisely the game we play with the enemy in our spiritual lives.

In Christ, we are always on offense. The enemy is trying to get the upper hand but he must do it from the defensive position always hoping to intercept a pass or to cause and recover a fumble. In your spiritual walk with God, every day is a new passing route. We wake up, get on our knees and ask God “What route do you want me to run today?” Whatever the play call is, if you find yourself getting farther away from God and you are not in the game, you must COME BACK TO THE BALL and reestablish eye contact with God because “…Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.” (1 Peter 5:8).